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How many people are going to ask me that? How awful do I look? “Just having trouble sleeping at home since the break-in.”
“Right. Totally understandable.” She watches me for another moment and cocks her head. “This might sound weird, but you’re welcome to come over to my apartment. My roommate’s at her boyfriend’s tonight, so you could crash in her bed. Or the couch, whatever.”
I open my mouth to tell her it’s a kind offer but I can’t accept, and instead blurt out, “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Her face brightens. “It’ll be like a sleepover!”
She gives me her address and I go inside to pack a bag, wondering what the hell I’m doing. I barely know her. I’m sleeping in some random girl’s bed. But the thought of being here another night by myself… I can’t do it. Especially when every time I close my eyes, all I remember is the last time Austin was there with me. How happy I was. How safe and secure. How right it felt.
But apparently, he didn’t feel the same way.
Thirty minutes later, I’m propped on Danielle’s couch with a ton of pillows behind me, a sweet lab and beagle mix lounged across my lap, snuffling in his sleep. I stroke his silky ears as Danielle navigates through her Netflix queue to find something for us to watch.
“So what’s going on with you and my brother?” she asks casually, as if it’s not an incredibly loaded question.
I shrug. “Nothing.” It’s mostly the truth… sort of.
“You’re not into him?”
I’m silent, debating what to say, and end up admitting, “I am.” It’s not like it’s a secret.
She sets the remote down. “Then what’s the problem? He’ssuperinto you.”
That’s what it seemed like Wednesday, but after that… “I thought things were going well, but then he changed his mind or something. Asked me out on a date one night and said he needed space the next.”
She frowns. “What happened?”
“I have no idea.”
“You haven’t talked to him about it?”
I give the dog on my lap a scratch behind his ears, and he stretches out contentedly. “I want to, but he keeps leaving when I try.”
“That’s so weird. Austin’s not a wishy-washy kind of guy. And he definitely likes you, trust me. Maybe you didn’t make it clear enough that you like him?”
I gave the man a blow job, for Christ’s sake. How much clearer could I get? “He knows how I feel.”
Her lips twist. “You have to beat him over the head with it sometimes. How about I call him?”
She already has her phone out and is tapping at the screen before I can respond, my eyes widening as the line rings and she puts it on speakerphone. I didn’t even agree to this.
Relief and disappointment mingle together in the pit of my stomach as it eventually goes to voicemail. “He’s probably busy with the tournament.”
“This late? Nah, all the matches are finished by now.”
She hits redial and this time he answers on the fourth ring. “Yeah?”
Danielle holds a finger to her lips, indicating for me to be quiet. Not a problem.
“Hey, do you and Tessa want to come over to Dad’s for dinner tomorrow night?”
“I’m working a tournament this weekend. I can’t make it.”
“How about Monday? I’d like to hang out with Tessa again. I liked her a lot.” She winks theatrically at me, smiling, but I’m too nervous to smile back.
“You should probably call her yourself, then.”
My heart sinks at the irritation in his voice.
